Is Obama Going To Allow US Soldiers To Be Tried By International Courts? : Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “great regret” in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague. The ICC’s chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court’s authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says he already has jurisdiction—at least with respect to Afghanistan.

Because Kabul in 2003 ratified the Rome Statute—the ICC’s founding treaty—all soldiers on Afghan territory, even those from nontreaty countries, fall under the ICC’s oversight, Mr. Ocampo told me. And the chief prosecutor says he is already conducting a “preliminary examination” into whether NATO troops, including American soldiers, fighting the Taliban may have to be put in the dock.

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war : When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.  A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed. ( Excerpt )

Marines push [terrorists] out of Taliban region : CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines trapped Taliban [killers of children] in a residential compound and persuaded the [barbarians] to allow women and children to leave. The troops then moved in — only to discover that the [gutter puke] had slipped out, dressed in women's burqa robes. ( Excerpt )

 N. Korea To Send U.S. Journalists To Labor Camp : Women Refused Right To Appeal; Given 12 Years Labor

Marine commandant says his force will be out of Iraq by spring 2010 : WASHINGTON (AP) — All but a few dozen of the 16,000 Marines now in Iraq will be out by next spring, the Marine Corps commandant said Thursday, putting a solid end date on a long-anticipated exit. Gen. James T. Conway said his Marine commanders are already moving equipment out of Anbar Province, where his forces have largely been concentrated. But the larger exodus will begin shortly after the Iraqi elections.

Usurper: ‘Yes’ to Bailouts, But ‘No’ to Defense? : Congress requires a “Quadrennial Defense Review” to answer that question with precision, and demands the Defense Department base its budgets on the QDR results.  But the 2009 QDR hasn’t been done yet. It’s not safe to be cutting and slashing in the dark.  Recent nuclear and missile tests in North Korea and Iran show we need the very systems that are being cut.  Obama’s focus is on fighting insurgents such as in Afghanistan and Iraq rather than conflicts with regular armies or against modern missiles.  

Obama’s initial cuts to 50 defense programs would grow progressively worse year-by-year.  As Defense News reported May 11, “the Office of Management and Budget has signaled the [defense] department should prepare for budgets that grow only 1% a year to adjust for inflation.”  Of course, inflation far exceeds 1%. For less than the cost of a major bailout, Obama and the Congress could assure proper funding of America’s military and defense.  According to Heritage Foundation defense analyst Mackenzie Eaglen, a $27 billion increase in FY2010 defense spending would meet the minimum necessary benchmark -- bringing defense spending back to 4% of the national GDP.  To go beyond the minimum and keep modernizing our military, former Sen. Jim Talent (R,-M.), wrote in National Review that we must close a $50 billion gap.

Either way, it’s less than what Washington has spent in less than a year on automaker bailouts.

What "....cruelty in ourselves....", Mr. [usurper]? : D-Day + 20. Years, that is. CBS ran a one-hour special hosted by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It would be his last trip to the Normandy beaches that his troops captured at such terrible cost. Only one memory lingers: Ike waved his hand over a big stretch of beach. “Here, you could hardly find sand to walk on for the American dead.”

U.S. Army Could Be in Iraq for 10 More Years

Gates officially ends VH-71 copter program